No, this isn’t a typo. This is a 1995 Mercedes-Benz E200 — in Chicago. Even stranger, this is a right-hand drive car from Great Britain. Why and how did it end up in Chicago? I have no idea. Just to refresh, the 200E/E200 was the base model of the W124 that came with either the M102 or M111 inline-4 engine. This car has the later M111 that produced 134 horsepower and 140 lb·ft of torque. Not a powerhouse by any means, but enough to get you moving. The E200 also came with a cool cloth interior with those rad 90s patterns that everyone loves so much now. But as you might have noticed, this is not a stock E200.
German Cars For Sale Blog Posts
If you’ve been reading these pages long enough you’ll know that I love a bright red interior. You might also recall that for me a white exterior is a color for which I have a very love/hate relationship. I think it can work incredibly well on some cars and look incredibly boring on others. In both cases, what I like about these colors comes down to contrast. It is not the individual color itself that I enjoy, but rather the way in which it complements other colors. I can think of few better examples of this than the presentation of this Grand Prix White 1988 Porsche 930 Coupe with Lipstick Red interior and just 26,842 miles on it.
The interior is about as bright as they come on a Porsche. Contrasted with the Grand Prix White exterior it stands out in sharp focus. It’s ostentatious, but because the exterior is white I don’t find it garish. It brings some excitement to the car in a way that the much more standard black interior simply could not do and it enhances that white exterior. Overall, this is really nice looking 930 whose color combination is quite befitting of the car’s dynamic capabilities.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 Porsche 930 Coupe
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Update 11/13/18: This 912 Soft-window Targa sold for $50,217.99.
I began my post on a recent 993 Turbo S by stating, “this is everything.” In a very different way my reaction to this Golden Green 1967 Porsche 912 Soft-window Targa is similar. For pure lust the Turbo S certainly wins the day, but some of the allure of that car was in the details and that is where the overlap lies with this 912. There is enough here to pore over that interested parties could spend hours simply looking through these pictures.
We’ll begin with the color. Golden Green is not a color I’ve seen before. It only was available for a couple years in the ’60s and generally isn’t one that we come across among the many PTS 911s that have been produced since. It is sort of in the vein of Lindgrün (also called Chartreuse) that was produced in the ’70s though Golden Green doesn’t look as bright to me. As the name suggests it possesses a yellow/gold hue to its non-metallic green. That golden hue allows it to change kind of dramatically from sun to shade. The pictures here do a pretty good job of capturing that transformation. This is said to be the only Soft-window Targa produced in 1967 in this color with only 4 others made in 1968. So it’s very rare. I don’t know how many Coupes might also exist, but as I said this is the first I have seen it so I’m guessing there aren’t many.
The other part of this is the Soft-window Targa itself, Porsche’s answer to what they thought would be the death of the open-roofed car. Such tragedies never befell the car industry and the soft rear window eventually was replaced with the glass rear with which we’re all very familiar on 911 Targas even to this day. But the SWT is an interesting design and interesting engineering answer to a potential problem. They make for great historical models and given their short production run are quite rare in themselves. So there’s a good bit going on here and the seller has provided quite a few pictures to document this Targa’s condition. Add to all of that it is up for auction without reserve.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: Golden Green 1967 Porsche 912 Soft-window Targa on eBay
2 CommentsLast week I took a look at a rather haggard 1999 Mercedes-Benz E320 Estate in my never-ending quest for a daily driver when the snow starts flying. Reaction to this car was mixed and it ended up selling for $1,757. A fair price for the condition. In the comments on the S210 one of our readers (Thanks, Doug) pointed out that a really nice W124 Estate would be a much better option compared to the W210. Naturally, I took a look at the car and I can’t say I disagree. This 1995 E320 Estate up for sale in Virginia isn’t painted in the most desirable color and even has the love them or leave them chrome wheels, but I’m totally smitten for it.